| 1976 Washington State Cougars football | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conference | Pacific-8 Conference |
| Record | 3–8 (2–5 Pac-8) |
| Head coach |
|
| Offensive coordinator | Bob Leahy (1st season) |
| Defensive coordinator | Howard Tippett[1] (1st season) |
| Home stadium | Martin Stadium, Kingdome (Seattle), Joe Albi Stadium (Spokane) |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 USC $ | 7 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 11 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 15 UCLA | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanford | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington State | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 10 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1976 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. In their only season under head coach Jackie Sherrill, the Cougars compiled a 3–8 record (2–5 in Pac-8, sixth), and were outscored 331 to 240.[2][3]
The team's statistical leaders included Jack Thompson with 2,762 passing yards, Dan Doornink with 422 rushing yards, and Mike Levenseller with 1,124 receiving yards.[4]
Senior quarterback John Hopkins injured a knee in the second game making a tackle;[5][6] sophomore Thompson relieved him and again the following week,[7] then became the starter for the rest of the season.[8][9]
A home game was played in Seattle at the newly-opened Kingdome, against eleventh-ranked USC.[9][10] Previous home games in Seattle in 1972 and 1974 were at Husky Stadium.[11][12] The sole game at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane was the Apple Cup, which was also under consideration as the Kingdome game.[13]
Previously the defensive coordinator at Pittsburgh, Sherrill was hired in late December 1975,[14][15][16] but coached just one season in Pullman, leaving in early December to return to the Panthers as head coach.[1][17] A week later, he was succeeded at WSU by Warren Powers, the defensive backfield coach at Nebraska.[18][19][20]
- ^ a b Emerson, Paul (December 7, 1976). "Sherrill takes Pitt job for 'a lot of reasons'". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
- ^ "1976 Washington State Cougars Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
- ^ "2016 Media Guide" (PDF). WSUCougars.com. Washington State Cougars Athletics. p. 76. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
- ^ "1976 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
- ^ Missildine, Harry (September 19, 1976). "Gophers whip Cougs". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.
- ^ Brown, Bruce (September 20, 1976). "Effort is not enough to ease hurt of loss". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 17.
- ^ Missildine, Harry (September 26, 1976). "Badgers win air war". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.
- ^ Missildine, Harry (October 3, 1976). "Thompson unloads on Idaho". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.
- ^ a b Missildine, Harry (October 9, 1976). "Thompson's key in 'Dome Bowl'". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 13.
- ^ Missildine, Harry (October 10, 1976). "Cougs tough, short". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.
- ^ Emerson, Paul (November 5, 1972). "Top-ranked Trojans bomb Cougars 44-3". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 19.
- ^ Emerson, Paul (October 6, 1974). "Cougars 'discover' No. 1". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 15.
- ^ "WSU may move Husky contest to Kingdome". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. February 20, 1976. p. 3B.
- ^ Franke, Russ (December 26, 1975). "Pitt assistant takes head job". Pittsburgh Press. p. 38.
- ^ "Sherrill named WSU coach". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). December 26, 1975. p. 15.
- ^ "WSU hires Pittsburgh assistant". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). December 27, 1975. p. 1B.
- ^ Livingston, Pat (December 7, 1976). "Sherrill's time comes for Pitt job". Pittsburgh Press. p. 49.
- ^ Barrows, Bob (December 14, 1976). "WSU fills football job with Nebraska assistant". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
- ^ Missildine, Harry (December 14, 1976). "Warren Powers new Coug coach". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 19.
- ^ Brown, Bruce (December 14, 1976). "New challenge faces Powers". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 19.